Preserving biodiversity

The Company's field development projects include a programme to rehabilitate aquatic biological resources.

In order to comply with the Russian President’s orders on the safe development of the Arctic, Gazprom Neft is implementing a perpetual corporate programme to preserve biodiversity based on a list of flora and fauna that serve as indicators of the stable condition of the marine ecosystems in Russia’s Arctic zone. The programme was developed by the Company jointly with leading scientific research institutes, Russian Arctic National Park and the Marine Mammal Council taking into recommendations from the UN Development Programme, the Global Environment Facility, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the World Wildlife Fund in Russia.

The programme to preserve biodiversity in Russia’s Arctic zone was recognised by specialists from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the scientific community as one of the best programmes organised under the Russian President’s orders and other similar programmes developed by companies in Russia.

The Company plans to develop and introduce a Biodiversity Preservation Programme for all its facilities located in Russia in 2017 as part of the Year of Ecology.

The programme took into consideration international and national requirements as well as agreements and conventions related to the preservation of biodiversity and the diversity of life forms, including genetic diversity, the diversity of species and ecosystems as well as their ability to change, adapt and evolve.

The Company plans to develop and introduce a Biodiversity Preservation Programme for all its facilities located in Russia in 2017 as part of the Year of Ecology.

Fauna studies near the Prirazlomnaya platform

Gazprom Neft Shelf conducted a study during the reporting year on how a wide range of fauna species could be potentially impacted by the Prirazlomnaya platform in the Pechora Sea as well as escort vessels and tankers that deliver oil to Murmansk from the Novoportovskoye and Prirazlomnoye fields based on a programme and list of indicator species. The research was conducted offshore, on the coast and in coastal waters. The reproduction dynamics of plankton, which have an extremely short life cycle, are one of the indicators of the ecosystem’s health. The study results did not reveal any significant stressful impact on plankton in 2016. Ornithological studies on the islands of the Nenets Refinery demonstrated the successful breeding of anseriformes birds and the appearance of 75 new species of birds, including a range of eight rare species: the white-tailed eagle, pallid harrier, peregrine falcon, gyrfalcon and Bewick's Swan, among others. A study of marine mammals near the Prirazlomnaya platform found large spring groupings of harp seals (several thousand) as well as a few Atlantic walruses. The study showed the platform and escort vessels had no significant impact on the animals. In 2016, satellite transmitters started being used to study walrus migration. The first data indicates that walruses actively occupy the water area between the islands of Dolgy and Vaigach.